Ravina heeded the wise advice of the good madam. She quietly left the manor and headed towards the barracks to find Aurelia. The azure woman had become increasingly reserved, and Ravina hadn't had the opportunity to inquire why. She hoped today she could ask her guard what was troubling her. It would be unfortunate if the heroine of the story faced issues she couldn't overcome. After all, a happy heroine meant a happy life.
Granted, that was a bit of a stretch, but having the hero on your side was always a bonus, right? Ravina gave herself two soft claps, the sound echoing in the open air as she slapped her cheeks. Doubts had been creeping into the back of her mind for a while now, seeping in during lulls in her work and making her second-guess herself. As Ravina strolled through the barracks, the silence around her seemed to whisper doubts that had been quietly accumulating.
She didn't have time for them. Or at least, that's what she told herself. The good madam had suggested she spend the day outside, so she was determined to find her knight and enjoy the outdoors. God knows the exercise could do her some good. Plus as a bonus she was free enough to inquire why the good woman seemed so lethargic lately.
The training grounds within the castle were vast, occupying about a tenth of the castle's land, including barracks and weapons storage facilities. Hundreds of rooms full of weapons of war. Normally, the knights claimed the west side of this expansive area for themselves, which is why several burly men cast curious glances at the lone girl as she traversed the dirt pathway. Her presence raised eyebrows and concerns alike, but it was with such purpose that she walked that few dared to offer assistance, while the rest simply didn't care about the wondering fledgling.
As such, Ravina enjoyed a pleasant walk in whispering silence. She focused on the open fields filled with men training, fighting and lazing around afterword. It was a pretty sight, occasionally. There were more then a few handsome men. The setup was quite basic: four tracks for running and training, without any gym equipment except for swords, axes, and shields. It seemed the level of physical training was comparable to high school PE, possibly even including a fitness gram pacer test.
Eventually, the young girl reached the section where the palace guards were stationed. She found it on luck alone. Lord knows she wasnt walking there with an idea of where to go. She found a familiar man conversing with two others. All three wore simple pants and shirts, sweat marking their brows and clothing. Yet, their casual conversation indicated that training had concluded some time ago. Their breathing was steady, and their expressions were cheerful.
“Brian Weighdur,” Ravina called out, “Commander of the Vorgeset Guard, if I remember correctly?” It was a statement phrased as a question. True enough, Brian Weighdur turned to find himself looking at the young Lady Ravenshield. Once again, his round face lit up with a smile from his thin lips.
With a flourished bow, he acknowledged her. “Lady Ravenshield, it’s a pleasure to see you again and an honor to be remembered by you.” The other men behind him bowed as well. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” Brian asked, standing tall before her.
Ravina nodded. “I was hoping to find my personal guard here,” she said. “To see how she is getting along with such noble men.”
A shadow crossed the men’s faces. “Yes, I was thinking I should talk to you about that,” Brian signaled to his men, and the two of them left. As they departed Ravina eyed the heavy set man with curiosity and suspicion. Once alone, Brian continued, “Don’t worry my lady, your noble knight is perfectly alright. In fact the young woman is both skilled and adept at learning… in fact, she is too adept.”
“She is too adept?” Ravina repeated, puzzled. “You mean to tell me that she is learning too quickly? What does that even mean?”
Brian offered a measured smile, pausing to scan his surroundings before responding. "It's truly admirable for a knight to quickly grasp a new skill or technique. However, it's common for many to face difficulties when trying to adopt a different approach, especially those who have honed a specific set of skills over the years. Once a knight has spent significant time perfecting their own combat style, they often overlook the fundamentals of other techniques. Take me, for instance. I myself struggle to use a blade as deftly as Moris, even though I'm twice his junior and better known for using a long saber than him — yet he has been practicing with a short saber his entire life and, as such, is better off using it and I can only marvel at his skill, even if I have twice his talent.”
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“So you're saying people have trouble with the fact that Aurelia is learning too quickly?” It was a curiosity to Ravina in two ways. What did her knight have to learn? Sure, the heroine being a badass right out of the gate would make for a poor story but… “Is it because of her origin?” Was Aurelia really being ostracized because she was a commoner? No, that was always something to be worried about and Aurelia would have to face that problem alone.
Brian’s smile faded. He paused for a moment. “No… well, perhaps that plays a small part, but the issue is more about her heritage.”
Heritage, not origin? Ravina blinked at the nuance. “I don’t follow,” she admitted cautiously.
Brian scratched his eyebrow with his thumb. “What I mean is, no one here knows whether she is fully human or not.”
“Fully human… is there such a thing?”
“Well, it's not unheard of. Aurelia looks sufficiently human, but there are some subspecies that can appear fully human as well. Given her exceptional talent, the only conclusion we can draw is that she must belong to a subspecies.” There was a pause before he continued. “It's not her lineage that's the issue but the fact that she is in the Vorgeset Guard. History has enforced a strict regimen that we must adhere to even today. You may not be aware, but there was a time when anyone was allowed in the guard, until the Vong’th uprising, then—”
Ravina silenced him with a hand. “So, you're saying she is too skilled to be considered human and you want her removed from the guard?”
“That's…” Brian strugged for a moment then relaxed. “...the gist of it. I have no issue with her personally; it’s just tradition—”
“Ah, I see. Tradition that necessitates her exclusion.” Ravina nodded, looking around. “I've noticed that this tradition seems far less welcoming to women than to men. In fact, I wonder how many women were dismissed for supposedly lacking proper human qualities.”
“My lady, you can't believe this has anything to do with her gender.”
She didn't. Blue hair wasn't a human trait. In fact, it wasn't until Brian mentioned it that she considered this aspect as well. Now that it was brought up, there were more than a few inhuman qualities to her. In the eyes especially. They were to… compelling.
Indeed, Ravina had seen men with ears and women with tails when she explored the city. Those features were quite obvious. But she came from a background where such creatures didn't exist—if you wanted blue hair, you used dye and that type of dye wasnt created here. Was Aurelia truly not human?
“Of course.” Ravina scoffed with a slim smile. “The only female knight is doing too well, so obviously she must not be human? It’s absurd.”
“My lady—”
“Enough. I shall discuss this with my father when I have time,” she stated, implying it as it was more of an empty threat than a plan of action. There daddy daugher time hadnt been scheduled yet after all.
“Of course, my lady,” Brian said, bowing. “I shall see you off,” he offered.
“Oh, I should think not. What if my 'feminine skills' lead us both astray?” she chided herself for her foolish words. Feminine skills? Ravina realized she needed to work on her quick-thinking skills, if she had any. Though she had to give herself some credit for defecting the newly dubbed Aurelia Problem with something just viable enough to be believable.
The point, thankfully, was understood by Brian, who offered her a simple, “Of… course…” Though strained and doubtful, it was enough, and with that, Ravina walked away. What problem could Aurelia’s potential non-human status cause? The Vong’th uprising suggested a sort of coup, something that could easily be researched, but that couldn't be the whole story.
Whatever the case, it was clear that Aurelia was facing discrimination. Looked down upon and perhaps even mistreated. No, she was obviously being mistreated by the knights. Commoner to Knight, and a woman at that. Even if they didnt care about her secrete origin. The heroine needed to go through some trials…
Ravina still didn’t know what to make of Brian’s unsettling smile. The man creeped her out, if she was honest, yet he was respectful, even about this matter… Come to think of it, perhaps she had been too harsh with her words. The man ensured they were alone when he spoke to her…
With a click of her tongue, she huffed as she found her way back to the manor. As soon as she was though the doors her eyes snapped to the nearest maid and she snapped at her for attention. “Please have a tea set delivered to my room as soon as it is convenient,” she ordered. The maid bowed in response, and Ravina retreated to her room.
The Aurelia Problem grew bigger, the orphanage issue was coming due to quickly and her studies have gained a new focus. Whose bad idea was it to go outside again?